


Ten Years Too Early

by MR_Leach



Category: Tales of - Fandom, Tales of Phantasia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8708731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MR_Leach/pseuds/MR_Leach
Summary: A young Cress gets involved in the ceremony meant to seal away the Demon King forever, but things go horribly wrong. The events at the catacombs end up changing Cress' life forever, as Dhaos now haunts every stage of his life.





	1. Intrusion

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry if my terms are a little mixed up from the different versions/translations. I’ll try to be consistent within the fic, at least, with what I use.

“Who is this!?”

Morrison looked down at the blond, hardy, somewhat rough skinned child before him with disgruntled astonishment. The youth, in turn, looked up at him, wide-eyed and somewhat fearfully, clearly intimidated by the strange man in front of him. In truth, Morrison knew just who the boy was. More importantly, he wanted to know what exactly he was doing here at his doorstep. 

“Why is he here, Miguel?” Perturbed, he turned to the boy’s father, who was standing behind him and looking somewhat guilty. The man wore a gritty faded blue headband that squashed his dark blond hair against his head.

“Well…it seems that someone decided he could not stay at home and managed to hideaway on our caravan.” Miguel placed a stern hand on his son’s shoulder, as if to remind him that he was the one being spoken about. “Isn’t that right, Cress?”

“Yes, sir…” The quiet downturn of his voice indicated a boy who had clearly had a lengthy talking to before arriving here. As the journey the Alveins had to make to get here was several days long, there was no doubt to Morrison that Cress had already heard many times from his father just how much trouble he was in.

“Why did you not take him back?” Morrison asked.

“We discovered him the first day, but not until nightfall. We considered taking him back, but the time it would have taken us to go back and start again would have surely taken too long.” This time, Maria, the boy’s mother and Morrison’s long time friend, was the one to speak. “I wanted to take him home, but Miguel reminded me how important it was for us to be on time.”

“Well you’re right about that.” Morrison replied curtly. “We’ve been waiting on you all day. We were almost worried you wouldn’t arrive.”

“We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to take so long.”

“I know.” Morrison looked down pointedly at the young Cress, knowing full well that having to travel with the child was what made them late. “Come in, supper’s still hot at least.” He then spoke to Cress directly for the first time. “I only planned to make food for four.”

The youth looked up at his parents worriedly then, wondering if that meant he would be excluded from supper. His mother reassured him that they would be sharing of course, though to be fair Morrison had enough food to feed the boy and then some. It was customary to have a big meal the night before, after all. There was a chance they might need the strength, and it would be too risky to bet otherwise.

“Ohhhhhh!! Oh! Oh! Look at yooou!!” Like lightening a woman with fine, golden blonde hair who was much younger than Morrison bolted from her seat at the table and honed in on Cress, squashing his cheeks affectionately as soon as she could reach him. She wore a white dress with a matching white hat, which was folded up like a nurse’s cap and had a lavender cross embroidered on it. “Oh Cress! You’ve grown to be such a handsome young lad! Oh, I remember when you were only just a baby, and now you’ve grown so big!”

After only just entering the dining room, Cress now remained frozen on the spot, not sure what to make of the strange woman suddenly fawning over him. Figuratively trapped, he became stuck eyeing the food on the table from afar while being assuaged by unfamiliar affection from this person he clearly doesn’t remember ever meeting before.

“Meryl.” Morrison admonished her as he entered the room.

“What?”

“He’s not supposed to be here.”

“Oh.” She looked at Cress a little sadly, realizing that his presence here was, indeed, out of place. “What happened? Why did you need to bring him here?” Her eyes moved to Miguel briefly, then Maria.

“We didn’t “need” to bring him with us, he came on his own.” Miguel answered harshly. “We didn’t have time to take him back when we realized he was with us, so he had to come along.”

Cress pulled his face away from Meryl’s grasp then, hanging his head a little. He wasn’t really interested in getting scolded by yet another adult by this point. “I just wanted to know what mom and dad were going to do that was so important…”

“Aww, of course you did…” Meryl stroked his cheek, smiling sympathetically. She then looked up to his parents. “You haven’t told him what we’re here to do?”

At that point, Miguel and Maria looked down, a little ashamed. Clearly they were guilty of having left Cress in the dark.

“We…figured we’d tell him when he got a bit older.” Miguel said.

“We didn’t want him worrying about us while we were away.” Maria added.

“Whether he knows or not right now isn’t important, it’s what we do with him that’s the issue.” Morrison made his way over to the table, not waiting for the conversation to finish before getting back to his hard earned supper. Seeing that someone was now acknowledging the food, Cress jumped on the opportunity and sat himself at one of the empty place settings…which had been laid out for his mother and father, not him. Seeing this, Morrison let out an audible sigh, then got up from his seat again so that he could go to the cabinet and set out another plate.

Miguel pulled out the chair next to his son and offered the seat to his wife. “What we’re going to do with him…? We can’t just have him wait here while we go to the catacombs?”

“Catacombs!? You’re going to the catacombs!?” Cress suddenly became far more interested in the conversation.

Morrison grunts as he reaches for the dishes he needs. “I do not much fancy the idea of leaving a five…six…”

“He’s seven.” Miguel interjects.

“…Seven year old by himself in my home to run amok.” Morrison’s experience with children was limited, and he liked to keep it that way. As a scholar who owned several priceless objects and heirlooms, he considered their famed mess-making abilities as something to be feared.

“Aren’t the catacombs a place where they keep dead people? Are there ghosts there?” Cress looked to his mother, who, to his disappointment, shook her head.

“There’s no ghosts, but there are monsters.” 

“Oh. Do people die fighting the monsters?”

“Some do. But you needn’t worry, your father is very strong, and can fight them all off when we go there.”

“Hmph.” Morrison huffed indignantly as he put down Miguel’s plate.

A blush appeared on Maria’s face then, and she whispered in her son’s ear, though all of them could hear her. “Morrison is very powerful too, we rely on him very much.”

At that point, the five of them sat down and ate, filling their plates to the brim to prepare for the next day. Miguel had to remind his son not to take more than he could finish, though by the end the boy was nearly falling asleep at his plate trying to stuff the last little bit into his stomach. Miguel and Morrison discussed what they should do, and it was decided that Cress should come with them, at least to the entrance of the catacombs, and that he would be taught about why they were going there. Cress would learn about the legacy left behind by his family, and how his fate was intertwined with that of the Demon King, Dhaos.

 

The trip would take less than half a day, normally, but with Cress along, Morrison decided they should not take any chances and that they should leave at the crack of dawn. Naturally, this did not sit well with Cress, who whined to his parents about having to be woken up so early. This, of course, delayed their departure, meaning Morrison was correct about the boy slowing them down. Miguel and Maria both resented the sentiment, though they also had a hard time disagreeing.

During the trip, it fell to Morrison to tell Cress about the task they were setting out to do, as he knew the story best, and it was he that refused to leave him behind. Morrison drove the caravan while Cress sat next to him, kicking his feet.

“Do you know of the story of the Dhaos?” Morrison asked.

“Uh uh.” Cress kept his head low. This man didn’t seem to like him very much.

“I’ll tell you, then. Almost a hundred years ago, there was a great war that happened between the kingdoms of man, and Dhaos, the Demon King.”

Cress perked up a little. This sounded interesting. “There was a Demon King? For real?”

“Yes. He commanded a vast legion of powerful demons that plagued the land and threatened to wipe out all of humanity. He waged war against mankind, and might have defeated us, if not for a powerful weapon used by the Kingdom of Midgard that struck down Dhaos’ army, right out of the sky.”

“You mean the demons were flying through the air!?”

“Indeed, that is how the story is told. However, this weapon was not able to defeat Dhaos himself, and he eluded judgement. That is, until four heroes banded together to seek Dhaos out and make him pay once and for all. These heroes were named Winona Pickford, Carol Adnade, Edward D. Morrison, and Alan Alvein.”

“That’s my name…!” Cress looked at Morrison, completely captivated now. Remarkably, this brought a small smile to Morrison’s lips.

“Yes, that it is. You see, these heroes were our ancestors. You, me, your father, and Meryl. We are the descendants of the heroes who stood bravely against the Demon King Dhaos.”

“Wow…did they win!?”

“Well…” That smile faded. “When the heroes went to fight against Dhaos, they managed to injure him, but he escaped using a strange arte that sent him travelling through time.”

“What!?” Cress practically jumped in his seat at the mention of time travel. This story only got more interesting as it was told. “So what happened!? How did they beat him!?”

“Settle down. They were unable to defeat him in the end. He had escaped them before they could land a fatal blow. But they had one last hope. One of the heroes knew of a secret place where Dhaos went to hide, and determined that whenever Dhaos traveled to in time, he would return to that place. That place is deep within the catacombs under the mountain, where we’re headed now. My great grandfather, who was a genius, developed an arte that would trap Dhaos forever within the mausoleum, so long as two people held up a special amulet at just the right moment. Their plan was to wait within the catacombs for when Dhaos arrived and use that opportune moment to seal him away.”

“Did they ever get him?”

“Dhaos never came back. He traveled to a time in the future far beyond the reach of their lifespan. And so, they entrusted the task to their children, and their children entrusted the task to their children, so that on the day that Dhaos returns someone will be waiting for him to seal him away.”

“You mean he’s still out there? He’s going to come back?”

“That he will, but we will be waiting. For it was on this night almost a hundred years ago that Dhaos used that arte, cowardly running away from our ancestors in that fight, and each year we all gather together and travel to the catacombs so that should he arrive, we can snare him.”

Cress gave Morrison a vexed and somewhat worried look. “So…when will he come back?”

“We don’t know.”

“What if you die before he comes back?”

“Well, that would be where you come in.”

“Me?” That news put an exceptionally worried look on Cress’ face. That responsibility seemed far too great for him to think about having to bear.

Morrison chuckled. “Relax, that won’t be for a while yet, when you’re a man. But if Dhaos does not come, it will someday fall on you and Meryl’s daughter and any other descendants of those four heroes to travel here each year and prepare for his arrival.”

Cress slumped over, looking wrought with the weight of all that responsibility. The story certainly started out exciting, but he wasn’t sure he liked the part about possibly having to face a Demon King himself. He was pretty good with a sword for his age, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be as strong as his father, let alone his hero ancestor.

“…So what does this Demon King look like?” Cress looked back up to Morrison expectantly. He wanted to get a good picture in his mind of what this foe to his ancestors was like.

“Truly? I have no idea. Though the stories say he is a giant, standing seven feet tall, dressed in a shredded red cape, with long, twisted hair like a witch. They also say he is surrounded by a strange unearthly glow which protects him from being harmed by human weapons.”

“Weird. What kind of weapon does he have?”

“It is said that he fights with his bare hands.”

“Oh…” Cress swallowed. The Demon King did not sound like someone he ever wanted to cross paths with.

When they arrived at the mountain face where the catacombs had been carved out centuries ago, the sun was only just moving past it’s peak in the sky. They had a few hours yet before their yearly ritual was to take place, and that time would be spent navigating the mausoleum and clearing it of monsters. Cress was to wait outside and stay hidden in the caravan until they came back. When they were ready, Morrison, Miguel, Maria, and Meryl took what supplies they needed, told Cress they would be back in a few hours, and set out into the depths of the catacombs.

The young boy had no trouble entertaining himself after his parents left, as he had come prepared when he first set out to hideaway on their caravan. He had a satchel stuffed with what he considered crucial supplies for traveling, including toy soldiers, a yo-yo, a rubber ball, his favourite story books, and lots of jerky to snack on. He was set…for an hour or two, when boredom set in, and he decided that taking a nap in the back of the caravan was the best course of action.

 

Cress awoke to the sound of the horses neighing in the eerie darkness of twilight. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why he was all alone, though the fear he felt waking up by himself in that chill darkness refused to subside. He wondered how long he’d been asleep and if his parents would be back soon, though he remembered that they had told him they would not be back until after sundown, and his heart ached for them. Trying to be brave and not let the loneliness get to him, he attempted going back to sleep, only to be nagged back awake by the need to urinate.

Looking around warily, Cress slowly stepped off the caravan, donning the stiletto his father gave him. It was a grown up’s sword, but small enough that Cress could wield it and carry it on his belt without it dragging on the ground. It was his favourite possession.

The shadow of the mountain made everything very dark. Cress knew he couldn’t stray too far from the caravan, as his parents warned him strictly to stay inside, but he felt nervous making water where the horses could see him. He made his way past the clearing surrounding the catacomb’s entrance and into the light foliage about thirty meters away. Still nervous, thinking that his parents, Mr. Morrison, and Ms. Adnade could emerge from the entrance any moment, he continued into the trees until he was sure he would be hidden.

Once he was finished, he started to make his way back, when he heard a strange noise, like thumping hoofbeats and creaking wood. Looking up into the clearing, Cress was mortified to see that the caravan was gone. It wasn’t a trick of the shadows, either—he could see clearly that despite being tied up, the horses managed to break free and ran off, towing the caravan behind them. But it was what had clearly scared the horses away that Cress was more worried about.

Before him, standing in the middle of the clearing, were two gargantuan creatures, each eight or nine feet tall with large, leathery wings. Their bodies were grey and muscular, and their faces were snarled and beastly like gargoyles. They stood side by side and made garbled noises at one another, as if they were talking to each other.

Cress froze, praying that they did not notice him. He was still within the light foliage; he hoped that perhaps he was still covered. However, one of the gargoyle creatures did something that made him worry if he was truly safe. It lifted its head, nodding slightly as if to sniff the air. Sure enough, within moments the creature turned its head and had its dark, hollow eyes pointed directly at Cress.

Panicked, unsure of what else to do, Cress jumped out from the foliage and drew his sword. “Stay back!!”

The two creatures stared at him curiously for a moment, both turning to face him. They seemed unperturbed, eerie gargling noises emerging from their throats as they stared at the boy. It was then that Cress realized just how small he was in comparison to these two monsters, and his blade started to quiver. He needed help.

“Mom!! Dad!!” Cress cried out as he lowered his sword and bolted towards the entrance of the catacombs, only barely missing the tip of one of the gargoyle creatures’ wings as he ducked past them. He could hear his feet echoing along with his frantic breaths as he ran through the cavernous hallways, the sound so loud he could barely think. Soon, he could hear the echoing sound of the gargoyles’ wings whooshing behind him, pursuing him, closing in on him. 

He had no idea where to go; each hallway led to three or four different others, each door leading to rooms with more doors. At times he could swear he was going in circles, but he dared not stop. He knew that if those creatures caught up with him, he would surely die or meet a fate worse than death. There was no doubt in his mind that the monsters following him were the demonic underlings of the Demon King.

“Moooom!! Daaaad!! Mr. Morrison!!” There were tears streaming down his cheeks now. He felt caught in a chase that might never end. He couldn’t even tell if he was making any progress or if he was doomed to never find them—until he noticed that some of the doors had been left open in sequence. He started to ignore the other doorways, only going through doors that had already been opened. Surely they had been left open by his parents…surely he would go through a door and they would be there, ready to save him from this nightmare.

Eventually Cress no longer had the stamina to run, stumbling through the hallways. He couldn’t hear the whooshing of wings anymore, but he knew he had to keep going, or else the demons would sniff him out and find him. He came upon a door that was huge and ornate, and was open only a crack. With no other doors around, Cress moved up to it, pushing the giant door with what little strength he could still muster. When he had finally pushed it open enough that he could fit through to the other side, he saw what felt like a miracle.

“MOM!! DAD!!” His parents stood at the center of the room along with Morrison and Meryl, all stationed equally apart in front of a large sarcophagus in the back of the room. Both his mother and father held a pendant in their hands, and they had all been watching the stone coffin very intently. As soon as they heard Cress’ voice, however, all four of them turned to look at him.

“What is he doing here!?” Morrison shouted.

“Cress, stay back!” Maria warned.

“CRESS!!” Miguel turned around, his face twisted in horror that he would see his son in this dangerous place.

Seeing that his father turned to face him, Cress immediately ran towards him, hysterical. “Dad! Dad, they’re after me, they’re coming, you have to help!!”

“Miguel! Do not move from that spot!!” Morrison shouted desperately. But he was too late.

In the back of the room, at the center of the statues surrounding the sarcophagus, a wickedly bright light appeared. The light grew, almost like it had a form, until Cress could see something emerge from inside of it. Fading in to his vision as if it had been blurred, a humanoid form shifted into existence. Swimming in black, red, and gold fabric, a person appeared from the nothingness, and the light faded away. When Cress saw the ethereal glow surrounding their body, he knew exactly who they were. The person who had just appeared before them was none other than the Demon King, Dhaos.


	2. Divergence

He was just as Morrison had described him; large, much taller than the average human, dressed in a tattered cape, with hair in twisted waves. The picture Morrison had painted for Cress was flawed in a major way, however. Cress had imagined him to be a beast; ugly and terrifying to behold. In reality, Dhaos was incredibly beautiful. Cress had never seen anyone so stunning in his life. It was actually frightening, in a way. Cress wondered if his father, the bravest person he knew, would be able to stand up against someone so intimidating.

But Miguel could not see Dhaos, for his attention was still on Cress. In the mere moments that had passed where Dhaos appeared, Miguel did not take his eyes off of his son.

“MIGUEEEEL!!” Maria screamed. She held up the pendant in her hand, and it shone brightly. “MIGUEL HURRY!!”

Miguel looked to his wife in confusion, only to realize that it was time. He had to raise up his pendant like Maria or else humanity might be doomed.

“DAD!!”

“MIGUEL!!”

By the time Miguel had turned around, something bright shone in his eyes. A hand came to grab his wrist, and before he knew it, the pendant in his hand was wrested from his grasp.

Dhaos held up the stone to look at it, not knowing what it was exactly, but knowing that somehow it posed a threat to him. Whether it was magic or clerical artes that made it, it must be destroyed.

“NO!!” Miguel protested, but nothing could be done. In mere seconds Dhaos’ hand clasped tightly around the jewel, crushing it instantly. When his hand opened, only dust and the chain that had once held the pendant remained. 

For a few solid moments, the room was silent. Miguel, Maria, Meryl and Morrison all stared at Dhaos, frozen in place, mourning the one chance they had had to rescue humanity. No human weapon existed that could harm Dhaos, and now, there was nothing to stop him from acting out his ambitions. They had failed.

Suddenly, it was like Maria only just remembered her son was there in the room. “Cress!” 

Her cry caught the attention of the Demon King, who, seeing the pendant in her hand, decided that she was a threat as well and began to face her. 

Faced with the realization that his wife and son were now in very real danger, Miguel tore his arm away from Dhaos, drawing his sword. “Stay back! Don’t move!”

“Hmph.” Dhaos was not impressed by this. Viewing the man as an annoyance more than anything else, he swung his arm to strike him. Miguel raised his blade to defend himself, the impact making a loud unearthly hum. He managed to block two more of Dhaos’ blows, when Dhaos’ foot slammed into his stomach, flinging him back across the room and into the wall. The force was so great, Miguel’s armour managed to crack the stone.

“DAD!!” Cress watched his father fly across the room in abject horror, the strongest person he’d ever known being thrown down like a ragged doll. 

“A child!?” As the boy had been hidden behind Miguel before, Dhaos only now saw him standing there. His forehead creased, his eyes darting from face to face within the room, searching for an answer. “You brought a child here!?”

Dhaos’ discovery of the boy sent Maria into a panic, and before she knew what she was doing she started to lunge at the Demon King, ready to protect her child at any cost. Her path was interrupted, however, by a bright blue beam of light aimed in front of her feet. When the light disappeared, the ground where it struck melted into a black sludge.

“Go no further! Explain to me, human, what you are doing at this place!”

“Mom…” Cress whimpered. His parents were in serious danger.

“You there, child!” Floating above him, Dhaos pointed down at Cress, his voice booming. “Leave here now! You are not to be here!”

Cress contemplated running at that moment, but he couldn’t just leave his parents behind. They clearly weren’t strong enough to fight Dhaos alone, and there was a good chance they would die if they fought Dhaos any longer. Instead, Cress drew his stiletto, pointing back at Dhaos. “No!! I won’t run away! I won’t let you hurt my parents!”

“Tch…” Dhaos gave the boy a disgusted look. “Revolting! They’ve even taught a child to incite violence…”

“Shut up!” Cress lunged at Dhaos, swinging his sword at his legs. Instead of cutting anything, the light enveloping Dhaos blinked and the sword bounced off, making the same odd humming sound as before. Regardless, Cress wouldn’t stop, swinging frantically again and again after each time the blade bounced away. 

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around Cress, lifting him off of the ground, carrying him away from the Demon King. He grunted and struggled, trying to get free, but Dhaos only got farther and farther away. Soon, his mother came into view, drawing her bow and aiming at Dhaos.

“MOM!!”

He could also see Morrison now, who was enveloped in a strange light that seemed to create a circle on the ground around him. Finally, Cress’ feet were back on the ground, and the person who had grabbed him, Meryl, knelt down and held him by the shoulders. “You must run from here! It’s not safe!”

“But mom and dad…” Cress didn’t realize it, but there were tears streaming down his face.

“We will hold him off while you run. Please, please get away from here—Ah!!” Meryl’s head swiveled around when she heard Morrison crying out in pain. His leg was bleeding, and around him were great shards of ice that looked as though they had been speared into the ground. Meryl stood up, leaving Cress behind to run to Morrison, then began to chant some kind of verse that made a white light appear around Morrison’s leg. When the light faded, the blood was still there, but the gash that had been impairing his leg was gone.

Cress took this opportunity to run along the wall to his father, who was still on the ground where he had fallen. 

“…Dad…?” Cress quietly whispered to his father as he knelt down next to his limp body.

“Ngh…”

“Dad are you okay?”

“….Cr…ess… Get…get out of here…” Miguel tried to lift his head, but it was difficult. His body didn’t want to move.

“I can’t...” Cress sniffed loudly. “I can’t leave you guys here to fight alone…”

“Cress…you…you shouldn’t have come…he’ll…” For the first time since he was knocked down, Miguel was able to lift his head up to see what was going on. Morrison was on the ground, his clothing singed. Maria was trying to help him up, pulling him by his arm. Meryl stood in between the others and Dhaos, a rounded, reflective barrier emerging from her staff. Dhaos stood before them all with his arms raised in front of him, and looked as if he was preparing another attack.

“Ugh…” Somehow, Miguel willed himself to move, standing up slowly. He held up his sword, then started to move his feet, building up to run towards Dhaos. “Stay the hell away from my friends, you bastard!!”

Dhaos’ attention immediately switched to Miguel, and he began to point his arms towards the swordsman instead. The air around him swirled, the fabric of his cape and his hair billowing behind him. Soon, the same bluish light that nearly struck Maria before began to form between his hands, only it got much brighter, and much bigger. Dhaos was just about ready to fire, when suddenly he noticed that, once again, Cress was directly in behind Miguel. Without warning, Dhaos’ arms swung upwards, and a gargantuan beam of light emerged from the center of his palms. The beam shot only just above Miguel’s head and continued up into the ceiling, creating a great, black scar across its surface. Immediately after, a loud rumbling occurred, and the wall behind Cress started to crack even more from where Miguel had hit it.

Everyone stood quietly as the rumbling continued, their eyes directed at the ceiling as large cracks began to form across it. A great wave of heat could suddenly be felt by everyone in the room, and amongst the black ooze in the wake of Dhaos’ attack, spots of bright red orange began to appear.

“What’s happening!?” Meryl shouted.

“…This crypt was incidentally dug into the side of a dormant volcano. Near the deepest part lies close to a pocket of hot molten magma.” Morrison looked up at the red spots above them with horror. “That attack must have destabilized the whole structure of the surrounding rock, and now the magma is seeping in!”

“No..!!

“This is perfect!!” Miguel stood by his friends, standing tall and pointing his sword at Dhaos. “With any luck this mausoleum will cave in—and you, Dhaos, will be buried with it!!”

The others looked to Miguel with surprise, and suddenly they all seemed to be filled with hope. If human weapons could not defeat Dhaos, then perhaps Mother Aselia herself could destroy him instead. It was a plan that might very well kill them all, but if it meant saving the world…

“Maria, Meryl, you two protect Cress and get him out of here.” Morrison turned to his friends with determination in his eyes. “We will stall Dhaos until this place falls apart and the magma engulfs him!”

“You can’t hope to hold him off on your own!” Maria shouted.

“You’re right, Maria.” Meryl stopped her and smiled at her warmly. “I’ll make sure they last long enough to ensure Dhaos meets his end. You’ll look after Mint for me, won’t you?”

Maria’s mouth hung open at her friends. She couldn’t believe they were about to make her run away while they sacrificed themselves. She wanted to protest, to say she would fight alongside them all until the end, but then Meryl’s words about her daughter Mint echoed in her mind. Someone had to look after the children…their future…and they had decided that someone would be her. So be it.

With tears in her eyes, Maria ran towards Cress, grabbing him by the arm as soon as he was within reach. “Cress!! We have to go! This room is going to collapse!”

Cress’ face twisted into a look of fear then. “What!? But what about dad!? And everyone else!?”

“We have to go, NOW!”

“NO!” Cress struggled to free himself from his mother’s grip. “I’m not leaving dad!!”

“Your dad can’t defeat Dhaos and save the world if you’re still here, Cress!” 

“Let me GO!” 

While they argued, the fight continued between Dhaos and the other three. Miguel distracted Dhaos by swinging at him and deflecting his punches, while Morrison and Meryl casted clerical artes to attack Dhaos with and support Miguel. Meanwhile, the room was already starting to collapse, the ceiling crumbling away while the walls cracked and crumpled in on themselves.

Suddenly, Maria cried out as Cress stomped on her foot, freeing himself from her grip and running towards his father. He took up his stiletto, yelling at the top of his lungs as he ran to help his father fight against Dhaos. Miguel was unable to stop him, as he was holding off a barrage of punches. Like before, Dhaos was about to kick him while his guard was down, but Cress put himself in between them, and Dhaos forced himself to stop. Just then, above the Demon King’s head, another bright light appeared, which rained down light upon him, causing him to yell out in pain and stumble backwards. 

“Morrison!” Miguel turned to the man behind him, who had been responsible for the arte. He then looked down to his son, and grabbed him, forcibly turning him around. “Cress are you mad!? Get out of here with your mother!!”

“I’m not leaving you here!” Cress shouted at his father defiantly. 

“You don’t have a choice, now go!!” Miguel shoved his son, pushing him back towards the direction of his mother. At that same moment, a loud crack resounded from above, and a small shock of orange flitted into view, hitting Miguel’s shoulder. Immediately the man cried out in pain, falling to his knees, his cape bursting into flame where the orange spot had touched him. 

“DAD?!” Cress cried out in confusion when he saw his father fall to the ground. He could hear his mother screaming behind him. That’s when another pair of arms wrapped around him, picking him up off the ground. They glided through the air as his father, writhing in pain, got farther and farther from him. He watched his mother trip and fall, and she got farther away as well. Another loud crack rang through the air, and something black suddenly blocked Cress’ vision. A deafening boom sounded, and when the black thing went away, the place where his parents had been was now buried by a large chunk of the ceiling. From above, white hot magma poured onto the rock, slathering it slowly.

“Wh…” Cress lost his breath. They had only just been there. His mind desperately tried to make sense of it, of where they went, of what became of them, but he was stuck. He looked up, expecting to see Meryl again, hoping to find some answers, but the person who had him in his arms was not Meryl. Cress took one look at his wavy yellow hair, and his heart stopped. It was Dhaos.

Cress sat there in fear, when the Demon King looked down at him and slowly loosened his hold on him. “Run. Get out of here or you will die.”

“Ah…!” Cress took one last look at the boulder where his parents had been, now being covered by more debris and liquid rock, then pushed Dhaos away, running full tilt for the door. 

This time, Cress knew exactly where to go. It wasn’t a matter of remembering, but a matter of taking the simplest path…the path that his parents laid out for him. He could hear the low rumbling of the room slowly caving in behind him. He knew it was too late. He knew his parents were dead.

Even though he had exhausted himself running before, he somehow managed to keep going. Behind him was death. Behind him was Dhaos. Or at least, he was, until something flew past Cress in a blur of black, red, and gold. Suddenly, his instincts told him he needed to follow Dhaos. Before, he had spent so long at the start going in circles, opening doors all over, that this time he might not ever make it out in time if he kept following his current plan.

“Wait!!” He cried out desperately. “Wait!! I don’t know the way out!!”

He watched Dhaos’ shadow fly ahead of him, frightened now that he might lose sight of him. Dhaos had to know the way out—Morrison told Cress these catacombs were his secret hideout. Frantically, Cress ran as fast as he could to keep up, always spotting the tail end of Dhaos’ cape or the last bit of his shadow, until finally, finally, he came upon the entrance. 

Cress collapsed outside. He was so tired, more tired than he had ever felt in his life. But worse than that, he was devastated. As soon as he was able to catch his breath, he started to sob. His mother and father were dead. They had died right before his eyes. He was sure of it, now…that they were buried beneath the rock, crushed underneath the weight of the ceiling.

Cress couldn’t think or move or do anything besides cry. The night air was filled with the sounds of his wailing and gasps for air. Tears poured out of his eyes, rivers of snot running down his chin. He tried to wipe them away, but it all just kept coming. He didn’t even know if he was actually safe yet, though part of him didn’t really care. The most important people in his life were now gone, in the blink of an eye.

At some point, the crying stopped, though he couldn’t be asked to pinpoint when. He was too tired. Too tired to notice that the rumbling hadn’t stopped yet, or that it was getting louder. Too tired to do anything when he saw a pair of feet dangling in front of him, along with the fringed edges of a long cape. 

When Dhaos knelt down to pick him up, Cress didn’t do anything to protest. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to think. He just curled up and allowed himself to be carried, wishing he could stop being.


	3. Responsible

When Dhaos finally came to a stop, they were no longer in the shadow of the mountain, the moons shining brightly above them. From a distance, loud cracks and booms could be heard echoing. Cress couldn’t see the catacombs, but he knew they had to be caving in completely, and his parents were going to be there, trapped forever under the mountain for the rest of time.

Cress was practically limp in Dhaos’ arms. He refused to move, or rather, it felt as though his body refused. He didn’t want to do anything.

The Demon King settled on a hilltop overlooking the base of the mountain. He knelt down, offering to put the boy down…but he would not stand up. Realizing that he must be in shock or something similar, Dhaos held onto him, deciding to sit down and keep the boy cradled in his lap for now. He turned to look towards the mountain, listening quietly to the sounds of the crumbling catacombs.

Cress started to focus his attention away from his own thoughts and onto Dhaos. He looked up at him, observing his features. His face looked young; masculine but soft. His hair was very thick, but clean and shiny. Cress found himself slightly mesmerised by his profile as he stared off into the distance, noticing little things like the subtle crook of his nose or the light caught by his long eyelashes. He was comforting to look at… at least, until Cress remembered who he was.

“…Are you going to turn me into a demon?” Cress’ voice was far weaker than he expected it to be. It felt humiliating.

Dhaos looked down at him, a small crease forming in the middle of his forehead. “No…”

“Are you going to kidnap me and feed me to your underlings…?”

“No.”

“Then what are you going to do with me?” Cress persisted. There had to be some reason why Dhaos picked him up.

Dhaos, then, looked genuinely unsure. “I don’t know…I did not think that far ahead.”

That answer confused Cress. The Demon King was the enemy of all humans, and he was a human. Surely Dhaos had some nefarious plan in store for him. Something else bothered him too. Before, when the ceiling was about to collapse, Dhaos was the one who whisked him away. There had to be a reason. He couldn’t have just done that for nothing.

“Why did you take me away…?” Cress wasn’t sure which time he was talking about, or if he meant both.

“You were in danger.” Was Dhaos’ response.

This only confused Cress even more. “You…saved me?”

“I…suppose you could say that.”

Cress thought about this for a moment. Dhaos had grabbed him so that he wouldn’t be crushed by the ceiling. But then… “So why didn’t you save my parents!?”

Cress’ voice echoed through the night air, followed by a long silence. Dhaos gave him a troubled look, although it didn’t last very long. 

“You are merely a child. I could not let you come to harm.” Dhaos answered.

“You mean just because they’re grown-ups you let them die!?” Cress could feel tears welling up in his eyes again.

“That is not what I meant. You are young, you are still innocent—“

“You mean my parents were guilty?! They deserved to die then?!”

“Do you know why your parents were there tonight?!” Dhaos raised his voice then, startling Cress. The boy then paused to take a few distressed breaths before answering.

“Yeah... They were gonna seal you away forever and make sure you didn’t hurt anyone else!”

“Then you know why I did not feel overly compelled to save them.” Dhaos looked down sternly at the boy, hoping to get his point across. Those people had been a threat to his life and his cause. Of course he wouldn’t want to save them.

Soon, Dhaos found he could not look at the boy any longer, however, as the tears that had been threatening to flow for the past few minutes were now streaming down his face, and he was beginning to sob. Dhaos realized that he had been callous, and that arguing with a child accomplished nothing. There was no way he could possibly understand Dhaos’ obligation to survive and the sacrifices that must be made to that end. He looked away to the horizon, away from the moons Sylvarant and Tethe’alla and towards the distant stars.

“It’s your fault…”

Dhaos’ attention was caught as the boy took a break from crying to berate him more.

“It’s…your…FAULT!!” Cress pounded on Dhaos’ chest with his fist. 

“Hey!” Dhaos jumped a little when the youth struck him. It didn’t hurt, of course, but he certainly didn’t appreciate it. To Dhaos’ inconvenience, the youth continued to smack him with his fist. “Stop that!”

“If you didn’t show up, they’d still be alive!” Cress sobbed. “If you weren’t there, none of this would have happened!”

Dhaos scoffed. He could have made a very simple argument for just the opposite. If those humans hadn’t have been there to try and snare him, they would easily still be alive. 

“If you hadn’t been there….” Cress hiccupped as his sobs became worse. “…..Dad w-wasn’t looking…..if h-he hadn’t been looking at me….If I h-hadn’t been there….”

Dhaos noticed that the youth’s pounding was getting weaker.

“They told me….they told me I shouldn’t be there….I messed it all up….I messed up everything…”

Dhaos’ forehead creased and he started to grow concerned. The youth had stopped hitting him now and was clinging to his chest.

“….It’s my fault…they died ‘cause of me…” His parents’ words echoed in Cress mind. “You shouldn’t have come”, “your dad can’t defeat Dhaos and save the world if you’re still here”. His mother and father were dead, and the Demon King was unleashed upon the world again, all because he had decided to follow his parents when they left for their yearly journey.

A while passed where Cress could only wail hopelessly into Dhaos’ chest, clinging to him tightly. He felt so helpless and guilty that he couldn’t be bothered to be afraid or angry at Dhaos anymore. He just wanted to cry and do nothing else. He was good for nothing else.

After a few moments, a hand came to rest on the top of Cress’ head.

“I was the one who destroyed the ceiling with my arte. The room caved in because of my actions.” Dhaos said.

Cress pondered that for a moment. It was true—the ceiling hadn’t been starting to collapse until Dhaos used that arte. But what was the point of bringing it up? Was Dhaos bragging about what he did? Was he rubbing it in his face? Cress sighed. He didn’t care anymore. Whatever happened, it couldn’t be undone now. His mother and father were gone forever.

Cress continued to rest his head against Dhaos’ chest as the Demon King kept his hand atop his head. For a long time, Cress cried on and off, calming down only to find there were more tears to come. Eventually he became too tired to cry anymore, and he fell asleep.

 

When Cress awoke the next morning, it was slightly chilly out, though he would not have known it. He woke up in the center of a massive pile of fabric enveloping him in every direction. At first, he assumed it was a blanket, and that he was camped somewhere next to his parent’s caravan. But then he remembered that that couldn’t be right, that the horses had been scared off and the caravan was gone, and he immediately sat up to discern where he was.

The mountains looked a whole lot more beautiful during the day. They stood against a bright pink sky, with the moons faintly reflecting light overhead. Birds were chirping their morning calls at one another, and the leaves in the trees below the hilltop where Cress was situated bustled in the cool morning breeze.

Cress shivered when that breeze rolled over the hilltop, pulling on the fabric around him to stay warm. He then looked down to see that it was black, with ornate gold embroidery embellishing the hem. When he realized that he was curled up in Dhaos’ cape, Cress stubbornly allowed the garment to fall around him and stood up. He looked around, noticing that Dhaos himself was nowhere to be seen, and decided now would be a good time to run for it.

He dashed down the hillside, nearly tripping a couple of times on the bushes and saplings sprawled along the slope. He then ran in the direction that made the most sense, towards where Morrison lived. If he was lucky, he might be let in by the house staff and allowed to stay there, at least for a little while. While he ran, he found himself planning for what his life might be like, now that he was alone. He had to find a place to live, he had to know how to find food and make money. His home was so far away, he might never get there by himself, but if he could just get to Morrison’s house…

After a while, Cress had to stop running. His body was sore from all the running he’d done the night before. To make things worse, he was hungry, and without a proper path to follow, trying to navigate the underbrush was incredibly tiring. He tried using his sword to hack through the branches and saplings that were in his way, but even that was far too taxing after a while. Finally, he stopped once he reached a tiny creek, tamping down the tall grass beside it and sitting down.

“Have you given up already?” 

Cress practically jumped when he heard Dhaos’ voice coming seemingly out of nowhere, nearly landing himself face first in the creek.

“You know, there are probably snakes in that grass, I’d be careful treading through it if I were you.”

“Where the hell are you!?” Cress shouted angrily as he looked around. He didn’t appreciate Dhaos playing mind games with him.

“I’m above you.”

Cress looked up, and sure enough, there was the Demon King, floating above him. He stepped back a bit, startled by how near he was without him noticing, and this time he really did land in the creek. Cussing, Cress jumped back into the grass, shaking his foot and cursing the freezing cold water.

“…And watch your language. A child such as you shouldn’t even know those words.” Dhaos floated down until his feet might have touched the ground, if he had not brought his knees up, like he was sitting in midair. He crossed his legs and laid his arms across his lap.

“I’ll say whatever I want! Ugh… How did you find me so fast!?” Cress flopped down onto the grass where he’d been sitting before, unamused.

“I never lost you.” Dhaos stated matter-of-factly.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I followed you here, after you failed to look up and see me before running off.”

Cress blinked. He had never actually been out of Dhaos’ sight at any point. The Demon King simply followed him through the air this entire time.

“Why the heck didn’t you try to stop me?”

“I thought you would tire yourself out eventually. Besides, I don’t know which direction you want me to take you.”

Cress gave Dhaos an appalled look, then. “Take me!? What, like you’re my babysitter!?”

“Well I certainly am not about to let you leave my sight, all things considered.” Dhaos sounded somewhat insulted. 

“Go away! I don’t want your help.”

“It is not a matter of what you want, I’m afraid. You are a child, alone, in the middle of nowhere. Leaving you be would be irresponsible.”

“I’m not a helpless baby! I can make it fine on my own!” Cress huffed, then let out a loud grunt as he got back to his feet. “Just leave me alone! I don’t want any help from someone who calls himself a Demon King, anyway!” He then turned and began to head downstream.

“Hmph!” Dhaos narrowed his eyes at the boy’s final statement, then watched him leave. He contemplated just letting him go, thinking that he was more aggravation than he was worth, but eventually he gave in to his conscience and floated up behind the boy, keeping his distance while still keeping an eye on him.

Cress looked behind himself as he walked away, relieved at first when the Demon King did not seem to be pursuing him…but it didn’t last long. He let out an exasperated sigh, then stopped briefly to yell back. “Stop following me!!”

He tried walking a little farther, then when he saw that Dhaos was still behind him, turned around. “I said STOP FOLLOWING ME!!”

“You are going to attract monsters, yelling like that!” Dhaos hollered back. 

Cress tried to ignore him and continued his way along the creek. At first, he had chosen to go this way because it was easier than fighting the underbrush again, but the more he thought about it the more he decided it had been a good move. Morrison’s house was next to water, and even if this wasn’t the same creek, he could always stop and take a drink if he needed to. Besides, in his adventure books, following water usually led to good things. Too bad his adventure books were in the caravan, along with his snacks. He could really use something to eat.

Time went by and the temperature rose with the sun, the morning dew evaporating and making a fine mist in the air. The grass got shorter and easier to walk through, and the creek a bit wider. Cress decided it would be better to fill his belly with water than nothing, and stopped to take a drink, remembering to glare at Dhaos once or twice as he did so. Now that it was daytime, the cold water felt more refreshing than freezing, and Cress even washed his face in it, despite not having any grown ups telling him to do so. Standing back up, he looked around, noticing the forest was a lot quieter than it had been. He then heard a sound…something strange. Like a crack, but not the kind a tree branch would make. He listened closely, seeing if he could hear anything else. Something like ripping, tearing….and the whooshing of large wings. Immediately, Cress’ mind brought him back to those two gargoyle demons from the night before, and he instinctively began to run, much to the surprise of Dhaos.

Running along the creek still, Cress came away from the forest into a large meadow. The sun caught him off guard as it shone in his eyes, blinding him temporarily. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see in front of him a structure of some kind with two enormous figures next to it, flapping huge wings. More sounds of ripping and tearing were coming from between them, as well as the occasional snapping and snarling. As he looked closer, the structure was an overturned caravan, and between the two creatures--the same gargoyles from before--were the bloody and half eaten remains of the horses that had been towing it. 

Terrified, Cress tried to turn around and run, only to trip on his own feet. The light thud of him hitting the ground grabbed the attention of one of the demons, who alerted the other. When they turned and saw Cress, their response was immediate. They abandoned their meal, their faces and chests covered in blood, and began to head towards the boy, ready to tear him to shreds. Cress tried to pull his sword out, fumbling with the hilt and unable to pull it out from under his own weight. When the gargoyles were nearly upon him, he started to cry out, only for his voice to be overshadowed.

“Stop where you are!!”

The demons stopped. Cress looked around, confused and alarmed, then saw that Dhaos was again behind him, drawing near. It was only now that he realized that since Dhaos rescued him the night before, the ethereal glow that had been surrounding him when he first appeared was not present this whole time…until now. 

“Leave this place and return from whence you came.” Dhaos stepped forward on the ground, holding his cape out so that it enveloped and shielded Cress. The gargoyles didn’t budge, and started to make what Cress recognized as the talking noises they had made once before. Dhaos grimaced at them as if he could understand them.

“Go now, I say, or face destruction!”

The gargoyles protested loudly, one of them pointing at Cress, which made the boy flinch. He looked up at Dhaos, confused. “Aren’t they demons? Why don’t they listen to you?”

Dhaos did not answer. He glanced down at Cress then, almost disapprovingly, then settled a firm glare at the gargoyles. He raised his hand to them, then shouted angrily. “Fools!! Obey your King, or be annihilated!!”

This managed to strike fear into the two of them, and both demons stepped back, wary of Dhaos’ outstretched hand. Nervously, they bowed their heads towards Dhaos, then turned away and flew off. Cress breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up again at the Demon King. Something about his posture seemed uncomfortable, but Cress couldn’t imagine why. Perhaps he was upset that his demons refused to obey him for so long.

Cress stood up then while pushing Dhaos’ cape aside, and walked closer to the upturned caravan. There were probably a lot of useful supplies he could salvage from there. However, whenever Cress caught a glimpse of the mangled corpses of the horses, he felt horribly ill. He tried to ignore them and move past them, but with the smell overtaking him and blood staining the grass around him, the image kept popping up in his mind. Eventually he couldn’t handle it anymore, and ran away from the caravan, stopping to throw up the same water he had drank only minutes earlier.

Cress stood hunched over for several minutes, when he noticed Dhaos move past him. He was no longer exuding his strange aura, Cress noticed. He couldn’t turn around to watch him go into the caravan, as he was sure he would be sick again if he looked over there anymore, but he could hear the Demon King rummaging inside a moment later. Cress moved to a spot on the grass that was clean and sat down, waiting. When Dhaos returned, he had in his hand Cress’ bag, only it appeared to be much fuller now. Dhaos then turned towards Cress and sat in front of him, cross legged.

“I filled it with bread and fruit mostly. I’m assuming you’re too young to know how to cook.” He presented the bag to Cress like it was a gift. 

“…” Cress looked to the ground, then reached out and took his bag, yanking it out of Dhaos’ hands.

“There’s also some rope in there, a hatchet, and a spade. I also found some flint and kindling but if you can’t start a fire, I can help with that.”

Cress opened his mouth to say that he didn’t want Dhaos’ help, but he thought twice about it instead. “…I know how to start a fire.”

“Good. I attempted to salvage a blanket for you, but they were all…” Dhaos looked back to the caravan, where the front end had been sprayed with the horse’s blood. “…soiled. I’ll lend you my cape instead.”

Cress didn’t protest. He stared blankly at Dhaos, looking in his general direction more than anything. He felt tired. He didn’t even feel hungry anymore. 

“Do you need to rest?” Dhaos asked, seeing clearly that the boy was out of it. Looking up at his face finally, Cress nodded. He didn’t want to go anywhere right now. Dhaos reached out then, and put his hand gently on Cress’ head. The boy didn’t try to shake him off. He just sighed and slumped over, resting his head on the bag in his lap.


	4. Reunion

When Cress’ hunger returned, he had a bit to eat, then started his way down the creek again, making sure to avoid looking at the caravan wreckage. He couldn’t imagine what those demons might have done to him if they had gotten a hold of him, and he didn’t want to. For that reason, Dhaos had earned the right to walk behind him without complaint, so long as he kept quiet and didn’t interfere.

He thought it was strange that the Demon King chose to walk now instead of float, though he didn’t question it. He knew already that the answer would probably annoy him in one way or another. He hated the idea that Dhaos pitied him in any way, and the less he got to be reminded of that, the better.

The sky was starting to become overcast. Cress didn’t know much, but he knew when rain was in the works, and he could start to sense it in the air, now. He wondered if he should stray from the creek to find shelter, but he didn’t want to get lost, either. He decided to keep an eye out, at least, for anything he could run back to and hide under if it really did start to rain.

And it really did start to rain. It started out as just a light drizzle, but due to the trees overhead Cress had underestimated what it would be like once they reached open valley. By the time his hair was sticking to his head, he had ventured too far from the shelter of the trees to go back without getting thoroughly soaked. He pressed forward, hoping he might come across a ridge or cliff or anything he could stand under, but soon the rain was getting heavy, and looking around, Cress could see no end in sight. He stopped walking, at a loss as to what to do. He had nowhere to go. He was simply stuck in the pouring rain with no way out.

After a few minutes of standing there feeling hopeless, the feeling of the rain pounding on his head went away. Cress could hear the raindrops pattering on fabric above him, and without looking he knew Dhaos was standing next to him, shielding him from the rain underneath his cape. It might have made him relieved if it didn’t make him feel so pathetic. He sniffled, the cold already getting to him. He just wanted to be home already.

They found a patch of grass to sit on that was wet, but at least it wasn’t muddy. Dhaos kept his arm up to make a small enclave for Cress to sit in. It was warm underneath Dhaos’ cape. Even though the rain dripped through the fabric onto him, it didn’t feel so bad anymore. It was just chilly water now.

Dhaos had dropped his arm and put it around Cress, and Cress had started leaning against him by the time the rain let up. It was still drizzling, but the two silently decided to get up and start moving again. Cress got out from under Dhaos’ cape and stretched his legs, then nearly fell over laughing when he glanced back and caught a glimpse of Dhaos. The Demon King was absolutely sopping wet from head to toe, his flowing hair reduced to a stringy mop while his cape sagged and clung to his form.

Dhaos did not appreciate being laughed at, especially when he was so gracious as to shield Cress from the rain. While the youth chuckled away, Dhaos flipped his hair over his shoulder, spraying the boy with water.

“HEY!!”

Dhaos smirked as he wrung out his hair, pleased with himself. Cress shook his head to rid himself of what water he could, then turned right around and started to head back to the side of the creek, which was now fairly swollen from the rain.

After a few hours of walking, the sun started to peek between the clouds, and Cress found himself looking up and praying for each time the sun’s rays would come out from behind a cloud and warm him up. The creek could be called a proper river now, and Cress started to really feel like he was on the right track. The mountains were still to their right, which Cress felt had to be right as they were to the left when they were leaving Morrison’s. 

Finally the sun came out for good, and Cress could feel his clothes and hair drying. He looked back once or twice, and could see that even Dhaos’ long hair was starting to dry out, though it might take a while yet. He snickered under his breath, though he made sure to turn away first so Dhaos wouldn’t catch him laughing again.

When evening began to creep up, Cress found he couldn’t go on. His legs were tired and his stomach cried out for food, and it seemed that he would have to set up camp somewhere. He chose a sandy spot by the river, remembering that sandy spots were good for building fires. There was also some light foliage nearby, and after some looking, it wasn’t hard to find some firewood that had been shielded from the rain and was still dry.

Taking out the flint and kindling Dhaos had packed in his bag, Cress was able to start a small fire after only ten minutes of trying, and he didn’t even get angry with himself once. The flame was heavenly. He used it to toast some bread on a stick, which wasn’t too bad, even without any butter. He looked to Dhaos then, suddenly curious.

“Are you hungry?”

The Demon King, lounging under a sapling nearby, raised both eyebrows at the question. “I…no, I’m alright, thank you.”

Cress stared at him, skeptical. “Do you …eat?”

This made Dhaos laugh a little. “Yes, yes I eat.” He turned away, though he was still smiling.

“How come you don’t want anything to eat now?”

“You need it more than I do.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Excuse me?” Dhaos turned his head only to find Cress offering him some toast and an apple.

“I kindof need you so I don’t die…so you need to eat.” Cress nudged the food closer to Dhaos, waiting for him to take it. Eventually, the Demon King obliged, though the boy wouldn’t let him off the hook until he saw Dhaos take a bite. Once he did, Cress seemed satisfied and sat next to Dhaos, finishing off his toast and digging into his own apple. “You know, my dad always told me that I’d fill up on bread if I ate it first, but that never happens!” He spoke while chewing his food.

“…Is that so?” Dhaos wasn’t sure if the youth really wanted him to join in conversation, but it felt strange not to say anything.

“Yeah…I get real sleepy at the end though. It gets really hard to stay awake and eat the rest of my food.” He cocked his head to the side. “Maybe that’s what he meant?”

“…Possibly.”

Cress got quiet then, taking a bit longer to swallow his food. “…I guess I can’t ask him anymore.”

Dhaos’ stomach sank. “…Right.”

It was quiet for the rest of the time they ate. Cress ate an additional two rolls after he was finished, however. By the end of the second roll, he was leaning heavily on Dhaos, yawning and rubbing his eyes. It wasn’t long after his last bite that he had fallen fast asleep. Dhaos looked on, wrapping his cape around the youth as a blanket. He placed his hand on the boy’s head before laying him down amongst the folds of fabric, then finding his own place to rest by the fire.

 

The next day was a lot warmer, and humid. Cress stuck to his plan of staying by the river, though it was still swollen from the rain the day before, and it wasn’t ready to drink. It made it a lot more difficult for Cress to move, and he felt like he was making little progress. To distract himself, he stooped to conversing with Dhaos.

“Since you’re a king, does that mean you have a castle?”

“I had one, though I doubt it is still standing now.”

“And you had an army…but it was defeated, right?”

“That is…correct.”

“Tch…Some king. I bet mankind’s got nothing to worry about.”

Dhaos scoffed. “So long as I am alive and on this planet, mankind will have much to fear from me, I assure you.”

Cress scoffed, mimicking Dhaos. “Whatever! You couldn’t even really control those demons.”

Dhaos stays quiet then, and Cress takes it as having won.

“So…what’s gonna be your first evil deed? Obviously it’s not eating children. Gonna burn down some villages? Or demonically possess an important person? Maybe--”

“I’m going to build a new castle.” Dhaos interrupted him.

“Build…with what?”

“With magic.”

“With—“ Cress did a double take. “You can’t do that!”

“I can.” Dhaos stated blankly.

Cress stopped and stared at him for a little while. Dhaos appeared to be completely serious. For a moment, Cress thought back to the amount of destruction wrought by the arte Dhaos had used in the catacombs. Magic, Cress had always thought, wasn’t real, but if Dhaos could do something like that…

“You’re lying. You’re just trying to pull my leg.” He turned around and started to walk again.

Dhaos scoffed again, but kept silent otherwise.

It stayed hot and humid, but thankfully the river became clear enough to drink from. At one point Cress took his clothes off and dunked in the river for a swim to escape the heat. Dhaos looked on a little jealously, clearly much warmer in his dark and heavy clothing, but refused to join in, choosing dignity over comfort. It was at least entertaining to watch the youth splash around. He could have sworn he saw the boy smile once or twice in the meantime.

After drying off, getting dressed, and having a bite to eat, it was time to move on. There were more trees to walk under again, and the shade they provided was welcome. They were even greeted by a bit of birdsong along the way. Cress looked back, and could see that Dhaos looked very content and a little curious about their surroundings. It was funny to see him staring up at the trees and paying attention to the birds and animals they happened to come across. He never thought the Demon King would be a nature lover, but it certainly seemed to captivate him.

Then, Cress saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks. Down the hillside, among the trees, he saw something blue. Blue. Blue was not a normal colour to see amongst all the green. He looked around the area more closely. He could see some white as well. Then, his eyes spotted something that set his heart racing. Smoke. There was smoke among the trees. He was looking at a white house with a blue roof and smoke coming out of the chimney. He was looking at Morrison’s house.

Without even another thought Cress started to run as fast as his legs would take him. 

“HEEELP!!” He screamed. It was the only thing he could think of. Whoever was there, they needed to hear him, and it was the only thing that came to mind for him to shout. “HEEEEEEELP!!!”

Soon, he could see the expansive home getting closer through the trees, taking shape, no longer just a few splotches of colour but a house with walls and windows and bricks and shingles. 

“HEEEEEELP!!!”

He was getting close now. He was nowhere near the main path, and had to navigate tall grass and bushes to keep going, but he could see people coming out of the house, looking for whoever was crying for help. He was able to recognize them right away. Ms. Adnade and Morrison. They were alive! He thanked the stars someone else who was there that horrible night had survived.

And then he slowed down. And then he stopped. 

They were calling out to him, calling for whoever was there, but he didn’t move. He didn’t move because it occurred to him that he had just led the Demon King right here, straight to his only sanctuary. He looked behind him. Dhaos wasn’t there. He looked up above, but still he was nowhere to be seen. He looked again to the house and the two calling for him, suddenly terrified. What if that had been Dhaos’ plan all along? To find the others by helping Cress make it back to them so he could get his revenge?

He waited. He was sure Dhaos would soon descend on the others and destroy them with his terrifying arte. It had to happen. Dhaos wouldn’t have just helped him come all this way. He had to have some horrible plan in store for the others as payback for trying to seal him away. He had to.

Minute after excruciating minute went by. But Dhaos never reappeared. He didn’t feel safe yet, but Cress felt bad watching the others scramble around trying to find him. Eventually he started to move towards the house, and came out from the grass. “Mr. Morrison!”

Morrison wheeled around, wobbling on his bad leg, looking for the one who said his name. When he saw the boy, he immediately started to hobble towards him. “Cress!!”

“CRESS!!” Meryl ran straight towards the boy and scooped him up in her arms, hugging him tightly. “Cress, you’re alive! You’re alive! Oh, thank Martel!”

“Cress! We thought you had perished with the others!” Morrison soon caught up with Meryl and started to inspect Cress, looking for any sign of injury. “How in the world did you make it all the way back here on your own!?”

Cress was unconcerned with telling his story. Now that he was reunited with the others, he had to warn them. “Dhaos is alive! He’s here, he’s alive and he might try to kill you…!!”

“Yes…we know.” Morrison said grimly. “We attempted to stop him one last time after the roof started to collapse, but he pushed right past us.”

“I…I’m sorry…” Cress started to cry. “I’m sorry…”

“Sweetie what are you apologizing for? We’re just glad you’re safe.” Meryl gave him a worried look.

“It’s…it’s all my fault…if I hadn’t been there, none of this would’ve happened…mom and dad would still be…” Cress hiccuped.

“Now you stop right there, young man.” Morrison chided him softly. “This was not your fault. If anyone is to blame for what happened, it’s the Demon King. Now,” He started to move towards his front door. “Let us get inside and have you washed and fed. You’ve been through a lot.” 

Cress nodded, allowing Morrison and Meryl to take him inside. As they went through the door, he gave one last look out towards the forest, to see if Dhaos might be there. He was still afraid that he would show up any moment to take everything away from him again, this one last glimmer of hope he had for a life. But no one was there.


End file.
